Railer wrestlers seventh at state

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By Mark Schnabel?Newton Kansan

The Kansan - Newton, KS

By Mark Schnabel?Newton Kansan

Posted Feb. 25, 2013 at 8:32 PM

By Mark Schnabel?Newton Kansan

Posted Feb. 25, 2013 at 8:32 PM

Newton, Kan.

PARK CITY — The Newton High School wrestling team had the numbers it needed to contend at the Class 5A state tournament Friday and Saturday at Hartman Arena, but couldn’t put enough wins together to do it.?Newton finished seventh out of 32 teams. Newton put three wrestlers in the finals and claimed a total of five medals.?Arkansas City repeated as state champions with 177.5 points, followed by St. James Academy at 141, St. Thomas Aquinas at 128, Topeka Seaman at 115, Valley Center at 105.5, Andover Central at 100.5 and Newton at 98. The Railers entered the tournament as defending runners-up.?“It was a tough tournament,” Newton coach Jude Wilson said. “There are so many tough 5A teams. We knew we had to come out and perform well. If you’re not ready to go, it will show up. We struggled some. We struggled in finding those wins. When you put this many good 5A schools together, you’re going to have a great tournament. I have to hand it to Ark City. They had a heck of a state tournament.?The round that perhaps hurt the Railers the most Saturday was the second consolation round, losing four of five matches.?“We didn’t get a lot of help from the backside,” Wilson said. “It wasn’t they weren’t wrestling well. It was that they weren’t scoring more points than the other guy. It was just a tough tournament. I thought our guys fought hard. They made too many mistakes. We were hoping for more, but the kids gave it what they had. It’s hard to tell what’s going to happen when you put this many good teams together.”?At 126 pounds, Quinton Harrison opened the day in the semifinals, scoring a takedown with 16 seconds remaining in overtime to edge Dalton Dietrich of Arkansas City 4-2. Harrison gave up an escape early in the third period, but scored a takedown with 13 seconds remaining in regulation. Dietrich scored an escape to put the match in overtime.?In the finals, Harrison met Greg Burley of Great Bend in a rematch of the regional finals, which Harrison won 3-1.?In the rematch, the first period was scoreless. Burley rode Harrison out in the second period, but Harrison was given a penalty point for locked hands at the buzzer. Burley scored an escape early in the third period, sending the match into overtime.?Neither wrestler scored in overtime. In the first tie-break round, Burley scored an escape. In the second tie-break round, Harrison came close twice to getting an escape, but couldn’t free his leg for the points. Burley had Harrison by the foot at the buzzer for the 2-1 win.?Harrison ends the season 30-8.?“He’s tough on top,” Harrison said. “I knew he was a really good wrestler. It could have gone either way.”?Harrison, a senior, was making his second trip to the finals. His last time came as a sophomore. He’s a four-time medalist.?“It’s been a long career,” Harrison said. “I’m not satisfied with second, but I’m happy with four placings.”?At 170 pounds, Jared Langley opened in the semifinals against Great Bend’s Darion Yager, a rematch of last week’s regional semifinals, which Langley won 12-0. Langley posted a quick takedown, pinning Yager with 22 seconds left in the first period.?In the finals, Langley met unbeaten Bryant Guillen of Topeka Seaman. The first two periods were scoreless, although Langley missed a couple of chances to score reversals in the second period. Langley got reversed in the third period, missing two more chances for reversals. Langley scored an escape with 15 seconds remaining, missing a shot and falling 2-1. Langley, a sophomore, ends the season 36-6.?“He’s a good guy,” Langley said. “I’m just going to work hard in the off-season and next season to come back here and win next time. I want to help the team win too. I wrestled him at Douglass. It was 5-4 there. It got tight. I was trying and trying (to get the reversal), but I was running out of time, so I was looking for different things I could do. (For next year,) I need to do more training, weight lifting and getting better in all aspects. I do freestyle and Greco-(Roman this summer) and I’ll go from there.”?At 195 pounds, Dillon Archer opened against Ben Taliaferro of Shawnee Heights, which likes to put the Superman symbol on the front of their singlets. Archer had enough kryptonite to lead 7-2 after the first period, adding nine more points in the second before scoring the pin.?In the finals, Archer faced unbeaten Preston Weigel of Hays for the third time. Weigel scored a first-period takedown. Neither wrestler scored in the second period. In the third period, Weigel added an escape. Archer posted a late takedown, falling 3-2.?Archer, a senior, ends the season 35-3.?“He’s a tough opponent,” Archer said. “It’s been a great season for him. It was a tough match. As an athlete, you’re always looking for the best competition. He moved up two weight classes this?“All three wrestled tremendous matches,” Wilson said. “A slight mistake here or there means you’re down a point, and it’s hard to get back into those matches. At this level, it’s hard to make up for those mistakes.”?At 220 pounds, Raymond Gallegos opened the day in the second consolation round against Alex Parker of Salina South. Gallegos gave up a takedown early in the second period, but came back with a takedown of his own. In the third period, Gallegos added a reversal and a set of backpoints before scoring the pin.?In the consolation quarterfinals against Jesse Colvin of Leavenworth, the first period was scoreless and Gallegos was ridden out in the second period. Colvin scored a quick escape in the third period. Gallegos scored the takedown with 22 seconds remaining and held on for a 2-1 decision to clinch a medal.?In the consolation semifinals, Gallegos fell behind 3-0 to Tyson Toelkes of Shawnee Heights. Gallegos scored an escape in the third period, but couldn’t score again, falling 3-1.?In the fifth-place match, Gallegos had a rematch with quarterfinal opponent Dylan Cox of Arkansas City. Cox won the first match 5-3. In the rematch, tied 0-0 after two periods, Gallegos was able to turn Cox in the third and post a pin.?Gallegos, a junior, finishes the season 35-9, winning four matches Saturday.?“I went out there with the attitude that I had nothing to lose, so I went out there and gave it all I got,” Gallegos said. “It was the final match of the season. I was a little shocked I got the cradle, but I knew then I was going to get the win. Getting the pin made it even better. I’ve wrestled him numerous times. I just had to be smart. (In the off-season,) I need to train harder, get stronger and faster. I want to come back here and win a state championship. I’ll do some freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling this summer, and probably do some club wrestling.”?“Raymond had a hard-fought tournament,” Wilson said. “He fought some very good kids to get where he was. At 220, that weight was so evenly matched. A kid that he split with was in the finals. A kid he met for fifth, he lost to twice. He found a way to win. He beat a real tough kids from Leavenworth, who beat him earlier in the year. It’s too bad he didn’t finish a little bit higher, but you have to be proud of the effort.”?At heavyweight, Garret Lee drew top-ranked and undefeated Nathan Butler of Leavenworth in the semifinals. Lee gave up a takedown in the first period and a reversal in the second before getting pinned.?In the consolation semifinals, Lee went scoreless in the first two periods against Arkansas City’s Matt McCormack. In the third period, McCormack scored an escape and held Lee off for a 1-0 win.?In the fifth-place match, Lee faced Zac Sander of Valley Center. After a scoreless first period, Sander scored an escape in the second. Lee opened the third period with an escape, but gave up a takedown. Lee scored another escape, but Sander held off any shots by Lee for a 3-2 win.?Lee, a senior, ends the season 34-9.?Anthony Monares lost in the second consolation round to Kade Sander of Great Bend 4-3. Tied 3-3 in the third period, Monares gave up an intentional escape with 90 seconds remaining, but was never able to get the takedown. Monares ends the season 15-8.?At 152 pounds, Peter Nelson jumped to a 7-2 lead in the second consolation round against Zack Hoskins of St. Thomas Aquinas. Hoskins took control of the match from the second period on, posting an 18-8 major decision. Nelson ends the season 14-10.?At 160 pound, Heydon Mock was scoreless in the first two periods of his second consolation round match against Jesse Oliver of Wichita West. Mock gave up a pair of back points in the third period, but scored a reversal and rode Oliver out for the remainder of regulation to tie it. Mock missed a shot early in overtime, and gave up a takedown with 12 seconds remaining for a 4-2 loss.?Mock ends the season 31-14.?At 182 pounds, Noah Ornelas lost in the second consolation round to Dalton Rodd of Andover Central 14-1. Ornelas, a freshman, ends the season 21-14.?Newton loses a total of nine seniors and a foreign exchange student.?“It’s going to be tough to say goodbye to this group of seniors,” Wilson said. “They were great leaders and they will be missed. (The underclassmen) have to continue to work. They have to find ways to stay on the mat. Every little bit helps. They have to make good decisions in their lives. They’re good kids and I think they will continue to do that.”